


Pink

by Writing-Stardew-Valley (writingfanfic)



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Beginnings, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-28
Updated: 2018-09-28
Packaged: 2019-07-18 19:26:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16125140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writingfanfic/pseuds/Writing-Stardew-Valley
Summary: Okay, not for a prompt... this is actually for my own OC, Seren (she's a giant Mary Sue, be warned, but I'm 25 and just don't care any more).





	Pink

“You don’t look much like a farmer.”

Some would call it a slip of the tongue, but Robin wasn’t that dishonest - she called it like she saw it, and Seren smiled. In a pink sun-dress and slip-on ballet flats, she supposed she didn’t.

“Well, I’m not,” she admitted, as they walked up the trail; much to her relief, it was clearly well-used - at least up until the bus stop. Past that, it became a clear but overgrown trail leading up towards the distant darkness of the forest, tangled with thick flowers that reeked of perfume, and trees bowing over the path that left her and the redhead in welcome shade.

“And you’re not local.” Robin’s voice held no malice - merely car-crash fascination. “So… why are you here?” She shook herself, realising that maybe she was overstepping the boundaries a little. “I mean, we’re all happy to meet you. Mayor was telling us that he remembers you as the tiniest little girl.”

“I barely remember this place. I just remember cool drinks. I don’t think I’ve been here since I was in nappies,” she said, and they walked on a little further. “How far is it?”

“About an hour’s walk from town,” Robin estimated casually. “Not far, although not fun if you’re carrying your stuff. Folk in town have a car. Some used to have horses but that’s a bit old-tech now. Mayor Lewis has a truck, but try not to break your leg anywhere that ain’t near a phone…” She chuckled, and Seren nodded slowly. “You… what did you do in the city?”

She wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but the gently-pinked lips and the careful, nay, meticulous eyeliner were giving her some indication it had not been practical work, and the young woman exhaled.

“I worked in an office. It was awful,” she said, quietly. “So… uh… I guess my grandpa knew, because he left me… this, here, and I just knew it was time…” The path opened up ahead at a rusted metal gate, and beyond it, Seren could see would and a red roof rising above the treetops…

“Now, don’t have a heart attack when you see the place,” Robin warned, one hand resting on the metal of the gate, and the girl nodded slowly, looking beyond. She couldn’t see much land - just trees, and dirt, and some rocks… her heart sank, but she smiled at the older woman. “I spent some time trying to get the house right for you. She’s got running water, and a jenny out back, and a fireplace that’ll keep it warm if you stock her right.” She stopped, but motherly feelings - the fact that the woman, the girl in front of her was barely older than her Maru, bore her onwards. “Are you sure you’re gonna be okay out here by yourself…?”

“She’s not by herself!” came a cheerful holler from the porch of the house, and both women turned - Mayor Lewis stood on the front porch, thumbs in his suspenders, and beamed. “Oh, Seren, I remember when your grandfather used to bring you up here, but I doubt you’d even remember that…”

“Hey, Mayor Lewis!” Seren smiled, and he sauntered over.

“As I was saying, you’re not alone. The community are more than happy to help out,” he said, clearly in full voice in front of the newcomer. “We’re all gonna be right behind our new farmer!”

“Everyone knows you’re here,” Robin said, squeezing Seren’s arm, and saw the colour drain out of the girl’s face; she looked at the Mayor, and raised her eyebrows. He had the decency to blush, but not to fess up.

“Oh, you know how gossip travels in these little places. Anyway, you feel free to check out your new house now, y’hear, and we’ll see you tomorrow! You must be exhausted,” Lewis said, brightly. “Robin’s put in all the work you see at my behest, and if you need anything, we’re all here for you.”

“Let’s let the girl have a look at her new… house, shall we?” Robin said, as tactfully as a brick to the face, and Seren nodded thankfully. “See you in the morning, if you ever need me my place is up behind the mountains.” And with that, the Mayor opened the gate, and Robin led him away as Seren took her first steps into a great unknown.

The house was beautiful - a little rustic, but beautiful - from the outside - red-roofed with a chimney sticking crookedly above the eaves which hung out a little over the door, and a green-shuttered window. There was even a log-shed - it was March in this different, hot country, and the trees were touched with pink spring, but Seren exhaled and thanked Yoba that at least Robin seemed to be looking out for her. She took her first, hesitant tread onto the stairs, and they creaked – of course.

The door creaked too as she opened it, and looked hesitantly into the darkness beyond, and then took a step inside, and then another step, and with each step the shapes seemed to change…

A TV. There really was electricity – but there was one room. She closed her eyes. Back in the city of the land, so far away, where she had been born and raised, she had a two bedroom apartment – but it was a block, so grey – no posters no fairy-lights no bright décor it offends the HOA nothing out of the windows nothing nothing no no – that this almost seemed bright in comparison. The air smelled of freshly cut wood – the floor was rough-cut boards, but they creaked as she trod on them and had been clearly well-varnished. A phone too, on the wall, next to the door. It looked like it’d been stolen from a train station sometime in the ‘60s, but she loved it. A fireplace made of red bricks, and actual logs and kindling already laid out – she smiled to herself. A bed – red covers, and as she touched it she realised the mattress was filled with straw. She would have to change that… she took her inhaler from her pocket and laid it next to the bed like a mark of shame, before sinking her head into her hands.

What the  _hell_  was she doing here?

Here, under a fake name, the girl who famously loathed to leave her apartment – and here she was running a farm! This was her land now! What was she going to do? How was she going to afford this place?! She shook her head, and gritted her teeth. She was an idiot, running away from… from her own  _boredom_ …

She looked around. Well, there was no use crying over spilt milk – would she have to get cows? Oh god. Well, Lee was going to be here in a few days, and when she arrived, she supposed it would be easier.

She saw the table wedged awkwardly under the back window, the one that, if there was another floor on the house – or she sat on the roof – would’ve maybe looked over the hills she came over to get here, and saw the note next to the camping stove on the flat surface.

_Dear Seren,_

_I remember your name differently when you were a girl – but doesn’t time make fools of us all? I had nearly seized the land for the farm for the community after I heard of your grandfather’s death – but something made me keep hold of it. I suppose it was for you._

_Old Willy has his fishing shop at the shore, and George and Evelyn are here. I don’t know if you remember them, either, but they remember you._

_I found a bunch of old tools in the shed and had Robin sort them out for you. Check the chest under the table._

_The best of luck. Don’t be disheartened. Stardew Valley – and Yoba – looks after us all._

_Lewis._

She batted away a few tears – George and Evelyn? She remembered a sweet older couple – maybe that was them. Willy she didn’t remember, but perhaps that would come with a meeting. She reached under the table – a spider skittered across her hand and she screamed, tumbling backwards and staring wide-eyed, before exhaling.

Why was she here?

But she reached under again, boldly – or perhaps stubbornly, grabbing the ring on one end of the chest and hauling it out. It was heavy as a box of rocks, and she collapsed back onto the floor again, chest heaving and shaking her head, before throwing the iron-banded lid back, and staring inside.

There was an axe – it’d clearly been well-used but was as sharp as a dagger, and she hauled it out, barely strong enough to lift it. A pickaxe too – she lifted it, and realised her arms were already weak, but it made her grit her teeth and place it aside with a heavy  _thunk_. A watering can sat tucked into the side – it was pleasantly light after the other two, but she reckoned it might not feel that way after she filled it, and she reached back in, pulling out a scythe – a proper, old fashioned scythe affixed to a pole, looking like the remnant of a worker’s strike in the Dark Ages, and then finally… a hoe. She looked at it, and then closed her eyes – she had so little idea of what to do with these things to  _begin_ to clear that… that nightmare outside.

She just wanted to sleep. Maybe tomorrow she could just catch the bus back to the airport and forget the whole thing-

The note fluttered to the ground, and she sighed, picking it back up.

 _I suppose it was for you_.

She looked around, and the walls creaked, gently, as if there was a faint wind outside. She turned the note over, and tilted her head.

_PS: Please register with our local doctor, Harvey. He still has your files from when you used to come visit up here (Dr. Mason retired and moved to ZuZu nearly twenty years ago!). Your grandpa insisted we keep them._

She looked up, as if expecting to see his ghost standing in the window, and felt her lip wobble as she smiled.

“Okay, granddad. I can do this,” she whispered, and then blinked. “Oh, hell, I don’t want to smudge my mascara…”


End file.
